nVerses Capital LLC Increases Stock Position in SM Energy (NYSE:SM)

nVerses Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of SM Energy (NYSE:SM) by 161.8% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,900 shares of the energy company’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,500 shares during the period. nVerses Capital LLC’s holdings in SM Energy were worth $356,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Creative Planning grew its stake in SM Energy by 35.2% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 63,535 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $2,539,000 after acquiring an additional 16,535 shares during the period. CX Institutional grew its position in shares of SM Energy by 9.7% in the third quarter. CX Institutional now owns 23,718 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $948,000 after purchasing an additional 2,103 shares during the period. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC grew its position in shares of SM Energy by 17.6% in the third quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 23,530 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $940,000 after purchasing an additional 3,514 shares during the period. Inspire Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of SM Energy by 25.1% during the third quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 11,359 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $454,000 after purchasing an additional 2,277 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CWM LLC raised its position in shares of SM Energy by 11.4% during the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,853 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $114,000 after purchasing an additional 293 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.56% of the company’s stock.

SM Energy Stock Performance

NYSE:SM opened at $43.52 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average is $43.02 and its two-hundred day moving average is $46.02. SM Energy has a 1-year low of $34.13 and a 1-year high of $53.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 1.29. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.82 and a beta of 4.18.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The energy company reported $1.85 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.57 by $0.28. SM Energy had a return on equity of 21.01% and a net margin of 33.18%. The company had revenue of $634.56 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $616.63 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.28 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that SM Energy will post 6.96 EPS for the current year.

SM Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 4th. Investors of record on Friday, October 25th will be given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.84%. This is an increase from SM Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.18. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 25th. SM Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 12.54%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on SM Energy from $50.00 to $48.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 4th. Truist Financial dropped their price target on SM Energy from $46.00 to $38.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on SM Energy from $48.00 to $43.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Mizuho dropped their target price on shares of SM Energy from $62.00 to $57.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $63.00 price target on shares of SM Energy in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, SM Energy currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $51.73.

SM Energy Company Profile

SM Energy Company, an independent energy company, engages in the acquisition, exploration, development, and production of oil, gas, and natural gas liquids in the state of Texas. It has working interests in oil and gas producing wells in the Midland Basin and South Texas. The company was formerly known as St.